Bar-stool bidder backs out of deal

Thursday

Never trust an eBay bid on a motorized bar stool seized from a drunken driver in a bid to pay off some of his back child support.

Never trust an eBay bid on a motorized bar stool seized from a drunken driver in a bid to pay off some of his back child support.

The Licking County Child Support Enforcement Agency has opted to sell the bar stool at a live auction next month after an eBay bidder bailed on his "winning" bid of $1,125.

"The bidder did not come through," said Beth Winegar, director of the agency, in announcing that the Dec. 13 online auction proved to be a bust after the winner, and some under-bidders, refused to honor their bids.

Even eBay tried to help, to no avail, Winegar said yesterday.

"It's so frustrating. We just decided not to continue down the same path," she said. The bar stool now will be sold at an auction next month at the Apple Tree Auction Center in Newark. The date has not been set.

The bar stool and its buzzed driver created national headlines in March.

Kile Wygle, 29, of St. Louisville, was arrested after he was injured in a crash while driving the bar stool around a Newark neighborhood.

He told officers he had downed 15 beers before hitting the street. He was convicted of drunken driving and spent three days in a driver's-education program.

When Wygle tried to sell the bar stool made famous by his jaunt, county officials obtained a court order to seize and sell the device in hopes of paying off some of the $37,000 in unpaid child support he owed.

Court records show that Wygle has not paid $1,475 in fines and costs accompanying his conviction, and the case has been turned over to a collection company.

The eBay auction generated headlines but, ultimately, no cash.

rludlow@dispatch.com

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